In the poem, "The Good-Morrow" by John Donne, the use of rhetorical questions and the diction creates the theme of unending love. The use of open-ended questions about the mysteries of love and the repitition of diction associated with love all help create this overall theme of unending love.
The open-ended questions which seem to require no answer give the reader a feeling that this poet's love will just go on forever. Besides the rhetorical questions, Donne only ends a sentence at the very end of each stanza, giving it a feeling as you read it that it is continuously flowing and there are no abrupt stops. This feature also contributes to the idea of unending or uninterrupted love, which is the major theme in this poem.
The repeated diction of such words as "love", "beauty", "pleasures", "hearts", and "souls" also gives the reader a feeling of happiness and love. By the constant repitition of words like these, the poet is stressing that these words represent the feelings that he has always. It shows that in this poet's life, these are the only feelings and emotions he encounters because he is surrounded by love and happiness. Therefore, since the diction is consistently positive and never turns bitter or pessimistic, the feeling that this happiness and love will continue forever is created.
3 comments:
i really enjoyed your analysis of rhetorical and open-ended questions because i only focused on diction. It was really insightful to associate the long sentences/stanzas to unending/uninterrupted love because i never would have thought of that. Also, i agree that the repetition of the words love, beauty, pleasures, hearts, and souls have positive connotations and that donne was using that type of diction to emphasize his enthusiasm for his lover.
Laura…..This was a good analysis of John Donne’s, “The Good Morrow”. The one thing that stood out the most to be about your blog that I overlooked was the idea that only the stanzas end in periods, which are continuously flowing. I never thought of punctuation as representing eternal or uninterrupted love. That was very interesting. You make a lot great points as the rhetorical questions and diction do represent the everlasting love between the speaker and his lover. Also, I noticed how the diction does suggest that the love will go on forever… Excellent analysis of the repetition of words like “pleasure”, “love”, "beauty", "hearts", and "souls", which also resemble and emphasize the message of true love that Donne is trying to convey. Well done… :)
Laura it's nice to see a blog that chooses to not only focus on diction, but gives further insight as to how the structure of the poem enhances it's effect. The punctuation question didn't even pop into my head until you mentioned it, almost as if Donne's lack of finite punctuation only demonstrates the extent or everlasting quality of his love for the addressee. The rhetorical questions asked by Donne could also symbolize their mutual love and passion for each other, because Donne can almost predict the answers his lover would make. Well done commentary, Laura.
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